Before I begin this entry, I must make everyone aware of how cute and sometimes lazy Béni is. We just went on a long walk and he’s pretty tired, so he was lying on the living room floor completely sprawled out. He noticed his toy bin about 10 feet in front of him and started barking at is as if to say “I’m too tired. Please come to me, my toys.” Eventually, he realized they weren’t moving and retrieved his bone, which he’s chowing down on now.
Gotta love Béni.
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This weekend (it’s a 4-day weekend), we have had several new shopping experiences. We went to a Lidl, which is like a mini grocery store that has about 1/3 of anything a typical American has on their shopping list. We had been there before, but not this location. All I have to say is that I’m glad we get to move back to the States eventually. I do NOT like grocery stores like Lidl and Aldi.
We also went to Galeria Kaufhof, which is a department store, to go to their market section. Yes, you can buy food at this department store. We were searching for this Dutch peppercorn Gouda we bought at a bazaar this winter. Although Galeria Kaufhof didn’t have the cheese, just like many other cheese shops we’ve visited, they did have a very friendly “cheese guy.” He knew a LOT about cheeses and talked to us for quite a bit. We tried some goat cheeses as well as a French cheese called Comté, which is only from summer milk and is aged 8-12 months. It was DELICIOUS. I have to admit, the goat cheeses weren’t too bad either! However, he did warn us before giving us a cheese that he said was the strongest one we would ever taste. It was a very mean cheese. It was so strong that we drank coffee afterwards to clear the taste and we could still taste the cheese afterward (and for another hour until we got home before we could brush our teeth). We ended up buying a Dutch Gouda that is pretty close to the cheese we bought at the bazaar, but it’s slightly different in taste and doesn’t have the peppercorns.
Today we went to Real,- which is like a Wal-Mart, in fact, Wal-Mart tried to open stores here in Germany but failed. When they did, Real,- took their stores. (Yes, “Real,-” is the name of the store. What is it with super stores and the hyphen?)
Anyway, Real,- is in Mannheim, so it’s not super close but not too far to discourage us from going now and then. They have everything. Seriously. Everything. Even groceries like a Super Target. It’s what we have been missing without Target and Wal-Mart over here. They even sell Vespas! We spent about an hour to an hour and a half in there before moving on with our day.
To make it even more of an American-style day, we ate at McDonald’s on the Hauptstrasse for lunch after our trip to Real,-.
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Once again, “Not Me!” Monday probably won’t appear on the My Charming Kids blog, but I’d still like to do my own…
I did not just realize I’d been failing to understand a basic German phrase for months. In the Mannheim Wasserturm parking garage, it says “Ausfahrt Autobahn” and “Ausfahrt City.” I did not think those were just names for different sections of the parking garage. And today it didn’t dawn on me that “Ausfahrt Autobahn” means exit to head to the Autobahn and “Ausfahrt City” means exit to the city.
I also did not skip out on a party for my class last week (thrown by a classmate) because we weren’t ready to go until nearly 9:30 PM and I had to get up early to get ready for 9 AM class the next day. I am not that lame or old.
– Sarah
Thanks for the frozen corn tip!!! 🙂
We don’t usually go to Aldi and Lidl. Like you said, their selections are not that great because they are not real supermarkets, they are discounters. Once you are used to them and know which things you can find there, they can be okay for some stuff. I get one hair thing there I can’t find anywhere else.
Sure! By the way, did you hear awhile back, they were planning to open Aldis or Lidls (can’t remember which) in the States? I really don’t think that concept would work well there…
There are some Aldis there – there’s one in Des Moines, at least. They’re closed on Sunday, just like in Germany 😉
awesome, doggy sounds cute. Ace does that as well when he’s tired, spreads out on the cold tile. We want you to come back so you can go back to Super Target :).
Yeah! The cold tile in the kitchen and bathroom are his favorite places to go when he’s tired.
We want to come back to Texas as well. Two more years!!
wohooo!!glad ya got to go to the party..and cutee on the beni story =]]]
Actually, I didn’t go to the party. The “Not Me!” Monday posts mean you write something you did do but say you didn’t. :o)
From the My Charming Kids blog: “Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
The Aldi is pretty much crap, Lidl is a fair good place. My mom shops there every week (besides the shopping she does at a regular supermarket). They have pretty good stuff, and they are getting more luxurious items too. Also they have these themes…two months ago you could buy for an entire month American things. Like sauces, bagels, muffins, marshmellows etc etc etc. but the Lidl here might be different than the German one. Although it all comes from Germany.
But supermarkets here are nothing compared with the ones in the US. Trust me. Although I do like Marks&Spencer in the UK.
As for the cheese…I wish I could send you some. But I guess sending it, might be even more expensive that actually buying the cheese… haha.